How to Make Exercise a FUN Part of Your Daily Routine

Quick - what do you think when I say exercise? I want the first word that pops to your head. If you’re anything like I used to be, it’s probably a moan of despair. Or maybe even a certain four letter word. But did you know that it doesn’t have to be?

That saying you see above, well, it kinda used to be my mantra. I mean, let’s face it, I didn’t get to be a size 16 by running five miles a day and eating salads as much as I’d like to think that was the lifestyle I was living. I sat on my rear end and filled my face full of bad foods. And one of the biggest obstacles for me in getting healthy was the fear of exercise. I mean, I might actually have to sweat {insert shudder}. Let me give you a little back story.

I just happened to be born into a family of athletes. You could never tie my mom down for long between rollerblading, tennis matches and bike rides. My dad lived on the golf course. And my brother. Oh, yeah - he was a college soccer player who could bench press more than my weight (even at my largest). But for some reason, I thought the exercise gene had skipped me. My preferences included watching TV (yeah, I could watch sports - have you seen some of the athletes?), hanging out with friend and shopping. Oh, yeah - and tasting any food that had cheese or chocolate in it.

So, when I made the decision last year that I was going to transform my life, I knew that I had to tackle the issue of exercise. I had to find a way to embrace it even if I didn’t necessarily love it. Because in my mind exercise was going to a gym and getting on the big torture machines behind sweaty men who didn’t know how to wipe them down first….

But I made a commitment to myself. I would do SOMETHING for 30 minutes a day. I would walk. I would hike. I would push a stroller. I would walk around the mall without stopping to look at the shops (OK, let’s be realistic, without stopping to look for long - remember, setting realistic goals is important). For 30 whole minutes. And I’m not going to lie, at first every minute of that 30 minutes felt like a year. And at the end of about the first 3 minutes I was ready to scrap the whole thing. But I kept going. And after about a month, a strange thing happened….

I actually started to look forward to exercising. What you say? Yes, I put exercise and fun in the same sentence! Because I found ways to make it fun! I loaded up my favorite songs on my MP3 player and headed to the park. I found a new place that I had never been before and went exploring. I met up with friends and talked about the latest movie while we walked. And slowly, exercise became fun for me. Now, yes, I was totally driven by the changes that I was seeing in my body. But more than that, I was driven by the way that it made me feel. Energetic. Alive. Refreshed. Not at all like I had thought, right.

And so it dawned on me; there is a secret to making exercise fun. What is it you ask? Well, it’s pretty simple but it was an “ah-ha” moment for me. Finding ways to do things I loved while being active made exercise totally doable! What do I mean? Well, I hate the gym. So I don’t go there to exercise. I love the mall. So I do go there to exercise! Do you know how much indoor space you have to walk through at some of the shopping malls and you can stay motivated by looking at the pretty little clothes as you cruise on past the stores. Another example: I hate the treadmill. So I don’t use it. I love walking outside and biking. So I do that instead! And in my mind I create an adventure or game while I’m walking! Or I sit back and enjoy the complete silence that I never, ever (EVER) get at home!

And so I discovered this: Exercise is all about what you make it - and the mindset you go into it with.

So all it took for me to make exercise fun was finding the right way to think about it! And now, this girl who used to dread the though of even walking to the car feels jipped if she gets less than an hour of hard exercise a day! And I find myself asking the family if they want to go to the park or go for a bike ride or get outside and moving. And while some days they look at me like a strange alien has taken over my brain, most days they love it as much as I do!

Because we took the blah out of working out and put the ahhhh in! And now I can’t even imagine going back to living a life that was not full of movement! Because this new lifestyle, while being fun, has really been about uncovering the real inner me! And I just happen to think that that inner me loves the way exercise makes me look and feel! And, yeah, most days it’s lots of fun!

What about you? What do you do to take the boring out of working out and make it part of what drives you to be the awesomely fierce and fit you that you want to be?